216 ANNUAL REGISTER, 1797. 
way.’ Treplied, that having now 
no doubt left on my mind as to 
their exact meaning, and being 
quite fure, notwithftanding the ob- 
fervation they had made, que j’avois 
Saifi la veritable intention de leur note, it 
would, I feared, be very unprofita- 
ble employment of our time to ar- 
gue either on the nature of the 
principle they announced as a fine 
qua non, to even a preliminary dif- 
cuffion, or on the extreme difficul- 
& of reconciling the peremptory 
femand with which they opened 
their miffion, to the pacific profef- 
fions that accompanied it; that if 
they were determined to perfift in 
this demand, it was much better to 
avoid all ufelefs altercation; and 
nothing in that cafe remained for 
me to do, but to afk for my pafi- 
ports, and to fignify to them my 
intention of leaving France at an 
early hour the next morning. They 
faid, they had their hands tied by 
an arréte of the Directory, and were 
bound to obferve the conduct they 
had followed by the moft pofitive 
orders; and although we remained 
together fome time longer, not-a 
hint dropped from them expreffive 
of a with that, inftead of going my- 
felf for new inftructions, I fhould 
either write for them by a meffen- 
ger, or obtain them by fending to 
England one of the gentlemen who 
were with me. I endeavoured by 
‘every indirect means to fuggeft to 
them the neceflity of adopting fome 
fuch modification, if they méant 
that their wifhes for peace, in"the 
exprefiion of which they were this 
morning more eager than | ever, 
‘fhould meet with the flighteft de- 
gree of credit. Tagain brought to 
their recollection that Iwas autho- 
‘tifed'to geceive any ‘propofal, any 
‘eontre-rojer they tendered to me; 
] 
but that they muft be aware that it 
was not poflible for me to alter the 
orders I had received, or to affume 
an authority with which I was not 
invefted. I dwelt particularly and 
repeatedly on my being competent 
to take any thing they faid for re- 
ference; but this availed nothing, 
except drawing from one of them a 
remark, that the full powers which 
authorized a minifter to hear pro- 
pofals, were widely different from 
thofe which would enable him to 
accede to them; and that it was 
fuch full powers that the Directory 
required me to folicit. An eafy 
an{wer prefented itfelf to thismode 
of reafoning; but I faw no advan- 
tage to be derived from prolonging 
a converfation which, after the po- 
fitive declaration they had made, 
could lead to nothing: I therefore 
ended the conference, by declaring 
my refolution to begin my journey 
at a very early hour the next morn- 
ing, and by faying, that immediate- 
ly on my arrival in England I would 
make an exact report of every 
thing that had paffed fince their ar- 
rival. 
I truft, my Lord, I fhall not incur 
cenfure for having declined to of- 
fer in diftin& terms to wait at Lifle 
till I could know his Majefty’s 
pleafure on the peremptory propo- 
fal made to me: but when I confi- 
dered the nature of the propofal 
itfelf, the avowal that this would 
not be the laft, nor perhaps the 
-moft humiliating condition requir- 
ed of us, and the imperious ftyle 
‘with which I was enjoined to de- 
part in twenty-four hours, it was 
utterly impoffible for me to affume 
a language, or affeét.a manner, that 
could be interpreted into folicita- 
tion or entreaty : I felt myfelf call- 
ed upon to treat the whole of this 
extraordinary 
